There are beverage heaters in existence that use an outlet plug for electricity to generate heat, similar to a small stove top. Other beverage heaters use the current available from Universal Serial Bus (USB) connectors on computer desktops and laptops to enable the warming or heating function. There are still other devices that use candles or Sterno® Brand heating devices to warm up or heat butter or other foods. Generally, the source of heat in such devices remain at a fixed distance from the food and are not adjustable. When they are adjustable, the means for adjusting the height of the heat source is not designed for ease of use. Furthermore, such devices also fail to provide a means for easily removing or adding additional heating sources.
Generally such devices either do not utilize self contained heating elements, or are not practical for warming beverages. The devices which do utilize self contained heating elements are generally intended to heat food and are impractical as beverage warmers for several reasons. For example, the cups or containers they use to hold the food would be too hot to lift to take a sip, and these cups are housed in structures which make it too difficult, i.e., impractical to repeatedly remove and put back as one does when taking each sip from a beverage.
The marketplace lacks a self-contained heating or warming device that can be used to conveniently warm up beverages without electricity from a wired electric source. Such a device would be particularly useful in areas where electricity is unavailable or where additional wiring is not desired. Wired products are considered inconvenient for users wishing to frequently move the product (when not in direct use) from one location in a room to another, or from one room to another room. Additionally, during time of leisure people tend to prefer products which do not have wires and are not plugged in for aesthetic reasons, similar to the aesthetic preference for a fireplace over a plugged in portable heater. The desire to maintain a cup or bowl of liquid such as coffee, tea or soup or other substance at a warm temperature at a work space, entertainment area, or other location is becoming an obsession with more and more people in a mobile society with frequent interruptions. Inasmuch as one gets interrupted in the middle of enjoying a warm soup or coffee to take care of another pressing need and returns to a cold beverage, the satisfaction once enjoyed from the warm beverage is severely diminished. A beverage warmer can bring back the satisfaction briefly enjoyed before such interruptions. In addition, many people like to drink slowly and desire that their beverage remain near their preferred temperature.